Rape was the choice form of torture for female detainees – My exclusive by Raïssa Robles
Human Rights Commission Chair Loretta Ann Rosales was repeatedly raped
In 1999, my editor at South China Morning Post asked me to do a first person account to show the vileness of the Marcos conjugal dictatorship.
This was soon after then Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Francis Garchitorena denied a motion to release US$150 million from the Marcoses’ frozen loot in Switzerland in order to pay damages to the human rights victims of the Marcos regime.
And so I decided to interview Loretta Ann Rosales – a political activist championing teachers’ rights who had suddenly found herself a congresswoman at age 60.
I first began interviewing her during the dying days of Martial Law but I never asked her personal stuff.
What she told me during my interview in 1999 shocked me to the very core.
Today I read on the ABS-CBN news website an interview with Rosales who said Vice President Jejomar Binay’s recommendation to bury Marcos with full military honors shocked her.
Rosales was quoted as saying that burying the dictator in Ilocos was “a beautiful gesture” but accompanying that with full military honors was “an insult to the people who fought hard to end dictatorship and to be able to restore democracy.”
Rosales added:
He actually corrupted the military. The problems that we have with the military now date back to the time of Marcos when he had to corrupt them in order to get their loyalty. Not only that. Isn’t it a fact that he was a plunderer? He stole the wealth of the nation. And now we give him full military honors? Is that honorable?
The report described Rosales as “a Martial Law victim herself.” That description was such an understatement, I thought. I remembered what she told me in that interview 12 years ago. I wondered where I had filed away my story.
And as Imelda Marcos is fond of saying, it must be part of the Divine Plan that I even managed to find the story written 12 years ago, buried deep in the mountain of documents and other bits and pieces of paper I had accumulated as a reporter.
I did not ask Rosales’ permission nor did I tell her I was posting on my website what she had told me 12 years ago.
Among the tens of thousands of Marcos’ human rights victims, Rosales was probably one of the lucky few who experienced a kind of closure on her personal nightmare. Rosales was able to confront her chief torturer before he died.
I am sharing this now with the younger generation who still think Martial Law was great and Marcos was a great man who deserves to be honored a hero:
Tortured martial law victim
now works with torturerRaissa Robles in Manila – For Congresswoman Loretta-Ann Rosales, the torture and repeated rape she suffered in the hands of the military 23 years ago remains vivid in her mind.
But she told South China Morning Post she no longer bears any grudge against her torturers. In fact she works closely with one of them in Congress.
“He was very sheepish when I told him – the last time I saw you was in the (military) safe-house when I was tortured,” Ms Rosales said of her colleague, Congressman Rodolfo Aguinaldo.
“He told me, `I was fighting the wrong enemy (then)’,” she said.
Mr Aguinaldo later joined the Reform the Armed Forces Movement or RAM which tried to oust two presidents – Ferdinand Marcos and Corazon Aquino. The coup against Mr Marcos was overtaken by the EDSA people power revolt and the coups against Mrs Aquino all failed.
Ms Rosales, 60, was arrested twice. The first was for possessing Mao Tse-Tung’s red book. The second was for fighting the dictatorship. [NOTE: She is now in her early 70s.]
The second time around was sheer torture: “They tried to make me speak by burning me, pouring what felt like hot wax from a burning candle on my arms and legs.”
“When that didn’t work, they tore off my clothes, pressed the barrel of a gun against my temple and played Russian roulette.”
“I didn’t budge. I knew they wouldn’t kill me because they couldn’t get any information from me if I was dead.”
Then they tried strangling her with a belt, and suffocating her with a wet cloth – “I thought that was stupid…how did they expect me to speak?”
She pretended to faint and was electrocuted.
“Then they abused me…about five or six men inside the room.”
But she was certain that Mr Aguinaldo, who “removed my blindfold afterward, didn’t touch me”.
Though her experience probably wrecked her marriage, she said it did not sour her against the military establishment.
“But I strongly come out against certain military policies such as the use of torture.”
Rhett says
First, saan ang evidence na si Marcos nag order ng torture?
Second, comunist pala itong si Rosales so hinuli sya. Kung na torture man sya, kasalanan nya communist sya. Pero di naman inutos ni Marcos yang mang torture. Military strategy yan. Mga communist di ba nangtotorture din?
Sana kung nagkakaisa tayong mga Pilipino at sinuportahan natin si Marcos, sana napakaganda ng bansa natin ngayon. Pero ungrateful ang maraming Pinoy. Parusa nadin sa atin ito! Enjoy kayo sa MRT na bolok, tax, at baliw na pwesedente ngayon ok?!
raissa says
read my book the moment it comes out.
andoon lahat sagot ko.
Oya Ponce says
why are the Marcoses still in power, anyway? it’s because Filipinos have such short memory. let us keep on reminding everyone how evil the Marcoses were.
Celia says
That the issue of burying Marcos with honors can even come up in the country whose riches he looted,whose trust he abused, whose image he despoiled and whose people he ruined.
Osalla Johnny Cariaga says
Hello to my fellow Christians. After scanning the different views of all the brothers regarding to the burial of the late President Marcos to Libingan ng mga bayani . I came to remember the powerful Words of our Lord Jesus Christ and so with other believers from the Bible. I believe that President Pinoy is doing all his best to fulfill his promises being our elected higest leader in our country. One of his aim is to unify the people so that progress that we are aspiring for will be achieved. But how can we be united if we don’t pray and help him . The late Pres. Corazon C. Aquino said, “Let us have reconciliation “. Jesus replied,” If you forgive men when they sin against you , your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men of their sins, you Father will not forgive your sins.(Matt.6:14-15) Peter came to Jesus and asked, Lord how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me?Jesus answered, “I tell you not seven times, but seventy- seven times”. (Matt.18:21-22) Jesus replied, ” But I tell you who hear me,: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you,” (Lk.6:27-28) “Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.” (proverbs 10:12) Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody . If it is possible, as fat as it depends on you , live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge , my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to revenge; I will repay says the Lord.” (Rom.12:17-19) Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. (Rom. 14;19) May God bless you my dear reader.
Elmer says
There can be no reconciliation without justice and restitution. Pls do do not use your Christian mumbo jumbo as it seems you do nun der stand what generation went through..
Khordz says
Did Marcos ordered that kind of torture to women? or was it Enrile or Ver or Ramos then who was in charge and allowed this kind of torture? the military men who did it should be burned alive! I would wish to know their names and be published and be known to their families what they did until the next and next generation. and also let their names recorded in the philippine archives of history…just like the Marcoses. I don’t even understand why people would still vote for them.
The_Eurasian_Filipino says
Eta Rosales owning Mao’s Little Red Book.She read,understood and comprehended it and kept it.And Pres.F.E.M’s enemies were communists.Mao Zedong=Communist.Communist=Enemy to the state.Ok sana kung binasa lang…pero siya pa ang may-ari..naku…BIASED.What a bunch of wringing liberals and leftist t*rds!
raissa says
So kapag komunista, ok lang i-torture.
James says
Ok talaga e torture ang communista. Pinupugutan pa nga ng ulo sa amin yan dun malapit sa Mt. Malindang kasi salot yan sa lipunan.
raissa says
Pareho kayo ni Marcos.
Hindi lang immoral, amoral.
livedthehorrorsofmarcosdictatoship says
You’re an idiot. Marcos, the fake hero and liar, just used the communists, who were not at all a threat, as a convenient excuse to propagate himself in power. How come communism is not even getting any stronghold in this Christian nation in this free day and age, if you do believe that they were a threat to Marcos’ time then? Think better and use your brain faculties well before you write venom.
Never Again says
Dapat itorture din si Marcos pala… . May picture pa nga sila ni Imelda na kasama si Mao Zedong…
Robert Varona says
It would be a travesty of the highest cosmological order if this fucker of all fucker-monsters were buried at the LNMB … I am shocked that even the possibility of this travesty is being discussed, and even RECOMMENDED by a “human rights” lawyer / Presidentiable wannabe!
Ninoy once said “The Filipino is still worth dying for.” I would rephrase that to “NOT burying Marcos is worth dying for!”
For me, as a modern Catholic, the biggest punishment IN HELL for Marcos IS FOR HIS ROTTING SPIRIT TO WANDER AND BE REVILED FOREVER in his victimized country!
livedthehorrorsofmarcosdictatoship says
YES!
Rhett says
Noytard allert Communist supporter.
Kal-El says
Now let’s look at the two dictators Saddam and Gaddafi… These two sinisters were caught alive and were executed (The former through a long court sentence, while the latter through a quick mob justice). Had the Marcos family not flown by the Americans at the height of the Malacanang seige during the EDSA I revolution, they could have all been killed by the street justice mob.
Dapat magpasalamat na lang sila at marangya pa silang buhay ngayon at huwag nang hamunin ang EDSA I bloodless revolutionists at baka magalit sila at ma-transform into bloody martial law torturer hunters…
mensajero says
maari kong isipin na naTORTURE din ang pamilyang marcos, si imelda at mga kaanak nya at lahat na sumusuporta sa pagbigay ng karangalan mula sa estado sa bangkay ni ferdinand. naTORTURE din sila siguro kasi di na sila makaramdam ng hiya at konsiyensiya sa likod ng mga ginawa nila sa loob ng mahabang panahon.
masakit na nga na sa kabila ng kanilang mga ginawang kasalanan sa bayan ay di man lang sila nakaranas ng parusa tulad ng inihahatol sa nahuling mandurukot sa kanto.
sa kabila ng kanilang kasalanan sila ay patuloy na namamayagpag sa trono.
hindi pa sila nakontento at nais pa nilang parangalan sila ng estadong binusabos nila. KAHANGALAN ang dapat mapasakanila dahil sa kanilang kasalanang hanggang ngayon ay di nila pinanagutan at tinatangap.
hanggang ngayon ay di sila nagkakaroon ng kapayapaan sapagkat di sila humihingi ng kapatawaran sa Diyos at sa bayan.
sa kawalan ng kapayapaan nais nilang matakpan ang ingay ng kanilang konsiyensya sa kanilang pinaggagawang protesta laban sa pamahalaan na tila sila pa ang naaapi.
isang pagbusabos muli sa ating lahi ang bigyang parangal ng bayan ang bangkay ni ferdinand.
nur says
Talagang nakakalungkot isipin na hangga ngayon kung umasta ang mga kaanak ng namayapang Diktador Ferdinand Marcos Sr.ay para bang walang kamantsa – mantsa ang kanilang ama. Ang Senador Bongbong Marcos kung magsalita akala mo bayani nga ang ama niya.
Napakaswerte nila kung ihahambing ang nangyari sa kanila sa naging kamatayan ni Diktador Saddam Hussein ng Iraq at Diktador Gaddafy ng Libya.
Palibhasa ay kinukupkop pa sila ng mga taga Ilocandia….
Sana manatiling mulat at masigasig na magbantay ang lahat ng mamamayan para hindi mapaikot ikot ng mga pulgas at tuta ni Diktador Marcos tulad ni Salvador Escudero at mga kabalahibo nitong mga “mambubutas” sa Kongreso na nagpasa pa ng resolusyon para hilingin ang paglalagak ng bangkay ng diktador sa Libingan pa ng mga Bayani…[email protected]!*[email protected]!…
Masyadong pang-aabuso na yan talaga….sobra na kayo! palibhasa hindi kayo nanindigan at hindi naranasan ang pagmamaltrato ng mga militar ng panahong namamayagpag ang Diktador Ferdinand at Imelda Marcos….
mahimasmasan naman sana kayo…..
jesus f. santa cruz says
As a person he was a friend. As a leader, his sins covered all the goodness he did. He told me… “Keep your name clean and stay away from politics.” The best advice I ever had. I remained technocrat. Nobody knows me. – Boots
LILY BUGAN says
E ANO NGAYON KUNG NA RAPE SI ETTA ROSALES NUNG MARTIAL LAW? SAPAT BANG BASEHAN YUN PARA MAKINIG SI PINOY? PANO KUNG NASARAPAN DIN NAMAN SIYA NUNG MA RAPE SIYA?
raissa says
You have a sick mind.
danny says
wala ka kwentang tao, babae ka pa naman
raissa says
male chauvinist ka?
Anong relasyon sa pagiging walang kuwentang tao sa kasarian ng isang tao?
vi says
hindi babae si lily bugan.. put the words together and replace the y to i.. this person’s really sick
vi says
with i
discreet56 says
Username pa lng alam mo nang tarantado ang taong yan eh kung sa mama niya kaya nangyari yun lily bugan pa kaya sya? Dapat ilibing din ang mga taong katulad nya gamit ang backhoe ni ampatuan!
livedthehorrorsofmarcosdictatoship says
Really sick to the core.
saruman says
masasabi o maiisip mo kaya yan kung mangyari sa mga babae sa pamilya mo?
belle clausen says
sira paano ka masarapan e RAPE nga eh? do you what RAPE is? ikaw kaya masarapan ka? what stupid thing to say, hello wake up.
belle clausen says
what a shame i think you don’t know what you are talking about. hey girl, do you know the meaning of RAPE? am sorry to say this, i think you so S . . . .T . . . .D! You better shut-up babae ka pa naman!!!!
yellow says
Basahin mo ulit ang sinulat mo, isipin mong mabuti kung sayo kaya nangyari ito, mababae, lalaki o aso ka man, maisusulat mo kaya ulit ang mga katagang yan?
realitybites says
READING YOUR POST/REPLY MAKES ME SICK…do you really know what you’re saying, no, how about..DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW “HAUNTING, DISTURBING, UNWORTHY, SELF-DESTROYED” it is to be MOLESTED?!
if you cant say anything good…its better for you to shut up then.
Kal-El says
Could somebody please remove the comment of this stupid sick person?
Mark Anthony Bolivar Andrade says
None sense and provocative comments. . . such kind of mind won’t do any good especially to your self. . .
discreet56 says
Hinay hinay ka sa comment mo pare sobra pa sa torture ang dating nyan sa biktima eh kung sa ina o sa kapatid mo kaya na babae nangyari yan at may nagcomment ng katulad ng sinabi mo ano ang maramdaman mo!
discreet56 says
Para kay LILY BUGAN yung comment ko abusado kasi, kung ina o kapatid ko si HRC chair Rosales sasapakin ko yan eh sobra pa sa bastos!!
Sable zablan says
Ang tanga tanga mu naman lily:(! Read and get informed about violence. Rape is NOT about sex. I don’t wish it for you. But you need to experience being raped perhaps to be able to retract your comments and seek apology to Mrs. Rosales. Better late than never.
CAPRICORNUS says
MA-RAPE KA RIN SANA BALANG ARAW….. AMEN!!!
maricel pangilinan arenas says
thank you, Raissa.
daisy says
May I ask other victims of Martial Law to come out and tell their stories for the sake of the younger generation to know the truth. I also vote NO TO MILITARY HONORS FOR MARCOS.
Fidel Umaga says
Etta Rosales is about 10 years my senior and I thought I am a grizzly, wizened man of many experiences. but reading this article sent shivers over all my body. But, my open position against the burial of Marcos at the LNB , and with full Military honors there or anywhere else, gave me a certain degree of inner peace with my self. It was calming. Yes, I have no argument against Marcos being buried in Ilocos or anywhere else other than at LBN. I would not even argue how the Ilocanos should honor him as the Ilocanos only could define their measure of what their great leader should be. But to bury FM with full military honors is simply an act of historical revision which will haunt us and our children, including those that would ensue from them and so on, forever. Sure, the oligarchs , the adventurist military, the communists, the catholic church , a new breed of fawning and greedy politicians, a naive public, ever looking for their savior, and so forth had a hand in what happened subsequently to our country but that is another story. The
recommendation of VP Binay , considering his own personal experience and close association with the titans of Philppine modern nationalism , many of whom are long gone, could hardly be seen as a model on statemanship ! At its best, it is a but a cheap political wager at the expense of a painful missed opportunity for greatness by a Filipino leader and his country with tragic ends , no less historical.
discreet56 says
Binay’s recommendation to bury Marcos with full military honors shows that he is a person who values political expediency more than decency as such he isn’t worth our vote in the coming presidential election.
leona says
Mr. Binay owns about 70 hectares of prime developed land in Tagaytay or within that area, but the title in not in his name but some caretakers. Wealthy people have been there and they were shocked! The land contains imported items from European countries. Go try to check this. He will try his luck 2016 for the top post. Dig the dirty skeletons then.
nur says
hhhhmmm ganun ba? Hindi nga dapat iboto kung ganyang may “baho” pala…dapat ngayon pa lang ay mabusisi na ng husto ang katauhan niya.
mario mahilum says
Vp Binay’s move to bury Marcos and with full military honor is a political seed to be reap comes 2016 presidential election.
saruman says
what do you expect from an edsa traitor and employer of “ghosts”. It is obvious he was using the positive surveys which places marcos among the “heroes” and on being buried at the lnb to make his decision/recommendation. i hope it comes back to haunt him during his presidential campaign.
danny says
pag maganda ang itinanim, maganda ang aanihin…pero sa bagay na ito malabo mangyari umani sya ng maganda…sabagay, wala naman konsensya ang mga politiko lalo na may ambisyon maging pangulo
Rallie F. Cruz says
It is more honorable for Ms. Imelda Marcos to stop using God as the One making a plan for her husband’s burial. God does not do those those stuff, those are man’s decisions and God would only bless your right and just actions or curse your evil works. Never make decisions as if God is dictating you what to do, Whatever happens to you after life will be the consequence of all your actions or inactions.
Jejomar Binay, you march with Cory Aquino to oust the dictator and now you are campaigning to make him a hero. How much was the promise?
Jesse says
Imelda Marcos should not use the name of the Lord our God in Vain. The Lord according to the Bible instructed the living to bury their dead. She should follow what the word of God rather than used in vain.
Binay needs to do his homework. I thought he jumps into concussion with one motive in mind…to get the Ilocano’s vote comes Presidential Election.
Junex Doronio says
Hindi dapat bigyan ng anumang karangalan ang libing ng isang diktador na ilang taon ding nagpahirap sa sambayang Pilipino at hanggang ngayon ay nagtatamasa sa karangyaan at nakagapang sa kapangyarihang politikal ang kanyang kinilalang pamilya sa harap ng patuloy na kahirapan at kaapihan ng malawak na masa.
edongpinoy says
is vp jojo binay moves too fast for his vote counts from marcvos loyalists this ealry for election 2016?
purple ribbons says
A dear friend, Atty. Hermon Lagman, a staunch labor lawyer, and labor organizer Vic Reyes disappeared May 1977 and were never seen or heard from again. Their families searched for them and then their remains for years. We believe they may have been tortured to death by military agents. Binay, and anybody who supports “honoring” a dead dictator should be ashamed. How can next generations of Filipinos learn the lessons of history if we allow the Marcos family and their supporters to twist facts and remake the image of Ferdinand E. Marcos.
leona says
Would Mr. Binay approve burying Satanas at the LNBayani with full military honors? That’s what he recommended to PNoy. He (Binay) should have been very ashamed. He should even apologize to PNoy for such a preposterous recommendation he was tasked for. PNoy should be wary of him with this blunderous acts of the VP! He will betray him again!
leona says
Mr. Binay forgot that the dictator, per records in the USA Army records, was almost executed for treason had it not been for the intercession by a lieutenant (Eulogio Balao who became later chief of staff). The dictator was caught collaborating with the enemy and sentenced to death by a military court. Check the records.
teresa tumbali says
please, please provide the link to this.
aida santos says
oh, the use of roussian roulette, seems to be a SOP…they did the same to me, and am sure to many. and the sexual power-over. rape is a weapon against women. but we shall overcome, always.
aida santos says
Now that there is a certain “ease” of distance from the Martial Law years, victims of human rights are speaking out. Etta, my heart goes out for you, and the rest who have not had the space to tell their stories. I told mine in an episode of “I Survived”. Any re-telling, however good the media, would always not approximate the pain of the memory. Thanks, Etta.
I started a petion online to protest the plan to bury Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. I sent the letters and signatures to the Office of Vice-President Jejomar Binay and Hon. Erin Tañada. The office of Congressman Tañada acknowledged the signatures and will pass on to appropriate committtes in the HoR. I haven’t heard from the Office of the VP. Sadness is the overwhelming feeling I have for the decision or action that VP Binay has/will take. How could he? That question keeps ringing in my heart.
Let women and men survivors of the atrocities of martial law speak out now. Our stories should be in the history of our nation. Not the burial of a dictator. Let the new generations listen to the real stories; not the wretched rewriting of history by people who are willing to compromise, nay, lie, about those dark years.
Thanks, Raissa.
Nanie Geronimo says
Torture again for the nation if this man gets the full military honors. Perhaps, by this militar horrors, surviving torturers line up along the route, act as pall bearers, shower flowers. Then the bizarre becomes the ultimate honor, bury him in shame, and he be damned by history not as the revisionists want it perpetuated.
Flor Caagusan says
“NO” TO MILITARY HONORS FOR THE DICTATOR FERDINAND MARCOS.
Mai Rodriguez says
thank goodness Pnoy finally put his foot down and said NO to a Marcos burial with state honors… i know the abuses under the Marcos regime shouldn’t shock me anymore, considering what my parents themselves had gone through during Martial law and what they told me over the years… but reading the accounts of CHR chair Etta Rosales again, the stories of brutality and evil during those ‘dark years’ never fail to shock me still.